The application of microwave energy to achieve drying, breakdown of organic materials, and organic synthesis is well known. However, the prior art has failed to achieve commercial acceptance in the industrial market due to a variety of reasons. Problems previously encountered by others during scale up from a laboratory unit to a prototype, pilot plant, or commercial size plant, limited the acceptance of microwave-based applications for large-scale implementation.
Also, considerable effort and expense has been invested in extraction and recovery of heavy crude oil. However, there has been limited commercialization of the developed technologies due to a combination of technical issues, limited throughput, expensive pre-treatment and post-treatment costs, poor operating efficiency, high energy consumption, or a combination of the above, resulting in limited production.
This present invention addresses many of the above commercialization impediments and provides a more efficient and cost-effective solution to substantially increase the extraction, recovery, and processing of heavy crude oil in the field.